Celebrity, Princess, or Royal Caribbean to Western Caribbean???

[rdh rules]

Hello,This is my 1st post:

me and my husband have taken 1 cruise 3 yrs ago to the bahamas w/ Carnival leaving out of Jacksonville. The cruise ship has been retired. It was small and we have had better food at our local restaurants here. We are planning a 5-7nt cruise in early 2011 to the Western Caribbean with 4 of us in our 30s-40s. We do not party or gamble. We do enjoy great food and relaxation, but would like to do things on the boat. I am considering Celebrity (Century or Eclipse), Princess (Crown Princess), or RCI (Liberty of the Seas) as our top 3 choices to leave out of FL. Please give me suggestions or do you have another line to suggest? We did love our inside room on Carnival (awesome sleeping) and plan to book another inside room. Thank you.

 

Moderator, if this is the wrong place-please correct:)

[Keith1010]

rdh rules, welcome to Cruise Critic and your first post is excellent.

 

I think that all three cruise lines are excellent.

 

I would go with any of them.

 

Overall I like Celebrity the best but the Century is around 13 years older than the other two ships so I think in this case I would go with either Princess or RCI ahead of Celebrity and my preference would be Princess.

 

Keith

[geoherb]

We did a four-night cruise on the Century and decided again that anything less than seven nights is too short.

 

I prefer the eastern ports over the western ones. On our last western Caribbean cruise, we stayed on the ship in Grand Cayman and did not venture very far in Cozumel.

[Keith1010]

Oh, definitely go for a seven day cruise. If any are less I would eliminate them as a choice.

 

Keith

[mtaylor04]

I would not do less than 7 nights, unless getting time off is an issue.

 

Eastern or Southern Caribbean would be my preference, but we would do Western for the right price, as we enjoyed Cozumel and Grand Caymen - love Princess Cayes.

 

Crown Princess is a beautiful ship and you can't go wrong with her. If you look at this link below, another cruiser posted copies of the "Princess Patter" which will give you an idea of the activities that princess has on the ship.

 

Happy Cruising - whatever your choice :D

 

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2806239500106018807sZBcsd

[Essiesmom]

Sorry you did not like Celebration. She seems to be doing well in Europe. I would also suggest you look at Holland America. I find them comparable to Princess, with better food and more comfortable beds. I would suggest one of the Vista class (Westerdam, Noodam) or Signature class (Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam) and book a J or K cabin, one of the square cabins on Main deck. They are much larger and well arranged. If you choose Princess, I suggest you try for one of the six cabins on Riviera deck that are lengthwise to the ship, with door opening into the side wall instead of the end. EM

[Princessmich]

We sailed on the Crown to the Eastern Caribbean and enjoyed the ship so much that we are going again on the Western itinerary in March 2011. Love to have you join us!:)

[yayvacation!]

Fiance and I are loyal Celebrity Cruisers so of course I would recommend Celebrity! You said you aren't partiers, but are looking for relaxation. I would say Celebrity, there aren't a lot of young people or families on board, so it's a great line to just kick back on with adults. ( I won't personally go within 300 yards of Royal b/c I couldn't deal with the kids and crowds) that's only me though tons of people love royal.

 

The nice thing about Celebrity is the treatment of you on board, I have read posts where others have had to pay for welcome drinks or other shabby treatment, but this isn't the case on Celebrity, the whole experience is amazing, in my opinion.

 

Our first sail was a 5 night on the Century, the ship was perfect for us to get started on, we booked an aft cabin and the balcony was amazing!

[mizLORInj]

I have enjoyed all cruises on all these lines. Crown Princess is a beautiful ship, but Eclipse is brand new

I'd go on any of the 3 so maybe compare prices?

-L

[hubofhockey]

Our past two cruises were on the Crown Princess and its sister ship, the Ruby Princess. I would recommend either and really couldn't tell the difference between them. My favorite things about Princess are choices of entertainment at night, layout of separate pool areas with the freshwater pools, and the service. The ships "flow well" too. We never feel crowded and enjoy anytime dining and the feel of the ships. We also like bringing on wine from various ports and Princess has a pretty "liberal" policy when it comes to that. :cool:

 

There certainly aren't all of the things to do that you would find on the Liberty of the Seas. With the ice shows, skating, flow riders, rock climbing walls, and more, that looks like a great ship. Next time we do a Caribbean cruise with the kids, we plan to do one of those ships. But when it's just the adults, we're good with Princess.

[AlanAllyn]

I've been on all three lines and would choose the Eclipse; it is more elegant. If you want to keep busier onboard, the Navigator is also a good choice. But do 7 days if possible.

[rdh rules]

Thanks everyone for your replies:D. I am impressed with all the responses for my 1st post. I will share all this info with my companions and will most likely do the new Eclipse or Princess. I didn't really want to do RCI, but it was a little cheaper and had more activities, so I threw it in there. I read the book Berlitz complete guide to cruising 2009 and he really liked Celebrity. Thanks again.

Joanne

[rdh rules]

mtaylor04: Thanks so much for that Princess Patter link, that does show us what to expect:)